Birds
How Rocket Learned to Read
Submitted by Ms. Tess!
How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills is an adorable story about the experience of learning to read, and loving to read! Rocket is a dog who loves to play outside. One day, as he is trying to nap, he is a accosted by an enthusiastic and scholarly bird, who wants Rocket to be her student. At first Rocket is disturbed, but soon finds he is interested in the stories the bird reads, and the letters and words that make up the stories. Soon Rocket is visiting the bird every day, until the seasons change and the bird must fly away. During the cold months, Rocket continues to practice his spelling, and when spring comes again, he is reunited with his bird teacher to read, spell, and learn some more. I really love this book. The message is wonderful and the illustrations are colorful and inviting. This is an excellent story for the young dog, bird, or book lover in your life! See this book listed in our catalog
The Ugly Duckling and Thumbelina
Submitted by Ms. Allana!
Little Hoot
Submitted by Ms. Tess!
Little Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace is one of the most adorable books I’ve read in a long time. As we all know, owls are nocturnal, and Little Hoot is no exception. But, unlike most children, Little Hoot doesn’t want to stay up late! He wants to go to bed early like the rest of his forest friends! “I don’t give a hoot what time your friends go to bed.” says Papa Owl, brewing himself a pot of coffee. Mama Owl says “Stay up and play for one more hour and then you can go to sleep.”And so Little Hoot goes off to play on the jungle gym (with his other nocturnal friend the bat), he builds a fort, he jumps on the bed, he skateboards… until it’s finally time to sleep! Mama and Papa tuck him in and “they owl lived happily ever after.” See this book listed in our catalog OR watch it via Tumblebooks
The Tree House
Submitted by Ms. Tess!
The Tree House by the daughter-father-artist team of Marije Tolman and Ronald Tolman is a breathtakingly beautiful book in my opinion. It is a wordless picture book, with the “story” beginning on the front cover. We see a white bear riding a whale (perhaps a latent comment on global warming?) to a tree house in the middle of the water. The white bear is soon joined by a brown bear in a boat, and they decide to share the magnificent tree house. Soon the seasons change, the water disappears, and new animals migrate to and from the bears’ tree house, like gorgeous pink flamingos, adorable owls, and a murder of crows. The bears remain, snacking, reading, and enjoying their life together. It’s a completely lovely and enchanting book with engrossing illustrations that will hopefully spur dialog between you and your child. I implore you to please enjoy The Tree House as soon as you can. See this book listed in our catalog
Forever Friends
Submitted by Ms. Tess!
I love Forever Friends by Carin Berger. This heartwarming book tells the story of a beautiful blue bird and a playful brown bunny. One morning the bunny wakes up to a glorious song: “Hello! Come play!” and so the bunny does! The bird and bunny play all day long, and become best friends. They play every day through the spring, summer, and fall. But when winter comes, the bird informs the bunny about migration. All winter long the bunny misses the bird, and the bird misses the bunny, but when spring comes again the bird and bunny are reunited (and it feels so good)! The illustrations are very artistic cut-paper collages, made using ephemera. This is a good book for a little one who is about to be temporarily separated from a loved one, or to help explain the changing seasons. See this book listed in our catalog